A dead dog lies tucked against a shop front, its dun fur matted with yesterday’s blood. I wonder if anyone ever loved it. from They Have A Different Heaven

Some say there is madness in a wind like this. It turns rich men into paupers, kings into devils. It causes skin to bubble into boils, witches to rise from misty swamps and generations of women to lose unborn babies. from The Monsoon Began on a Wednesday

And though I no longer hate boys, it’s not a man I want at all. It is a woman. from Differences

The man glided down the spiral staircase with his candle. He took his name with him. from Load Shedding

I learned to change the weather when I was six. from Weather

The men arrived every day to work. Many of them lived near the railway tracks. They brought the smell of the trains with them. from Thumbprint

The children’s laughter echoes into the canopy of trees above us. Like monkeys. from Train

A bride with vermillion sindoor markings pouts from 1925. from Incomplete Lotus

Let’s not see rootless children too hungry to cry, legs too thin to carry their hollow bodies. from Two Nations

When she drinks, her mouth bursts with the excitement of their pretence. from Sisters

When girls go bad, they steal your medicine and light fires. But these are not fires that fulfill hopes or provide answers to your dreams. These girls are arsonists with a twist of chilli pepper. from When Girls Go Bad

You close your eyes when you take cash from your mother’s purse. If you don’t see it, it hasn’t happened. from This is What We Learn at School − Part Two

The tambour of beggar boys with bellies like drums. The disappointment of rice without meat. from Umnath

Years later, they found a case in his rooms containing thousands of locks and keys. from Matryoshka

An ostrich with matching moustache and tail feathers tries to buy us drinks, the cut of his trousers as unimpressive as the timbre of his mating call. from This is What We Learn at University

Grapefruit are captured sunshine. But the best fruit of all is a woman. from Discarded Fruit

“What happened to our ancestors?” they ask. “We lost them when you were little more than eggs,” she says. from Between Meals

You grow into a young woman who learns to sing Rabindra Sangeet. You attend university, so rare for a girl at the time. from The Thickening of Blood

So many secrets, so much to learn. There is pride, but there is shame too. Overwhelming shame. from This is What We Learn at the Workplace − Part Two

“We had plenty of Muslim friends,” my mother had said, with her habit of using the pluperfect inappropriately. from Talking Too Much